Glossary
48 terms, each explained in plain English with where it applies in your care.
- Anhedonia
Anhedonia is the reduced ability to feel pleasure or interest in things that used to matter to you. - ASRS (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale)
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, or ASRS, is a questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization with researchers at Harvard and New York University to screen for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. - Atypical Antipsychotic
Atypical antipsychotics, also called second-generation antipsychotics, are medications developed from the 1990s onward that treat psychosis with a lower risk of the movement side effects associated with older drugs such as haloperidol. - Augmentation Strategy
An augmentation strategy adds a second medication or treatment to an antidepressant that is helping but not enough, rather than switching to something new. - Benzodiazepine
Benzodiazepines are a class of sedative medications that calm the nervous system by enhancing the effect of GABA, the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter. - Board Certification
Board certification is a voluntary credential that shows a clinician has met national standards in a specialty beyond the basic license required to practice. - CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is the most researched form of psychotherapy and a first-line treatment for depression, anxiety disorders, panic, social anxiety, PTSD, insomnia and OCD. - CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia)
CBT-I is a short, structured therapy for chronic insomnia that the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommend as first-line treatment, ahead of sleeping pills. - DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy)
Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is a structured form of cognitive behavioral therapy developed by psychologist Marsha Linehan in the late 1980s for people with intense emotions, self-harm and suicidal behavior, most often in the context of borderline personality disorder. - Deep TMS
Deep TMS is a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation that uses a specially designed coil, called an H-coil, to reach brain tissue deeper and more broadly than the flat figure-eight coil used in standard rTMS. - Dissociation
Dissociation is a sense of disconnection from yourself, your body, your surroundings or the flow of time. - ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention)
Exposure and response prevention, or ERP, is the form of cognitive behavioral therapy with the strongest evidence for obsessive-compulsive disorder. - Esketamine
Esketamine is the active ingredient in Spravato, a nasal spray approved by the FDA for treatment-resistant depression. - Executive Function
Executive function is the set of mental skills that manage other mental skills. - GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7)
The GAD-7 is a seven-item questionnaire that measures the severity of anxiety symptoms over the past two weeks. - Glutamate
Glutamate is the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, the chemical signal that tells the next nerve cell to fire. - Gradual Dose Reduction (GDR)
Gradual dose reduction, or GDR, is the planned, stepwise lowering of a psychiatric medication to find the lowest effective dose or to stop it safely. - H-coil
The H-coil is the magnetic coil used in Deep TMS. - HAM-D (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale)
The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, abbreviated HAM-D or HDRS, is a clinician-rated measure of depression severity first published by Max Hamilton in 1960. - Ketamine
Ketamine is an anesthetic that has been used in operating rooms and emergency departments since the 1970s. - MADRS (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale)
The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, or MADRS, is a 10-item clinician-rated scale for depression severity, published in 1979. - Mania and Hypomania
Mania and hypomania are periods of abnormally elevated, expansive or irritable mood along with increased energy and activity. - Medical Necessity
Medical necessity is the standard insurance plans use to decide whether a service is covered. - Medication Management
Medication management is the ongoing process of prescribing, adjusting and monitoring psychiatric medication so that it works as well as possible with as few side effects as possible. - Mood Stabilizer
Mood stabilizer is the general term for medications that reduce the frequency and intensity of mood episodes in bipolar disorder, both the highs of mania or hypomania and the lows of depression. - Motor Threshold
Motor threshold is the measurement that sets the dose for your TMS treatment. - Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change its structure and function in response to experience. - NMDA Receptor
The NMDA receptor is a protein on the surface of nerve cells that responds to glutamate, the most abundant excitatory chemical messenger in the brain. - Non-Stimulant ADHD Medication
Non-stimulant ADHD medications are an alternative for people who cannot take stimulants, do not tolerate them, have a history of substance misuse, or need coverage at times of day when a stimulant has worn off. - PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9)
The PHQ-9 is a nine-question screening and monitoring tool for depression. - Physician Assistant in Psychiatry
A physician assistant, or PA, is a licensed medical professional trained in the generalist medical model and authorized to diagnose, treat and prescribe under a collaborative relationship with a physician. - PMHNP (Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner)
A psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, abbreviated PMHNP, is an advanced practice registered nurse who has completed graduate training focused on psychiatry. - Prior Authorization
Prior authorization is a requirement by your insurance company that a treatment be approved in advance before the plan will pay for it. - Prolonged Grief Disorder
Prolonged grief disorder is a diagnosis added to the DSM-5-TR in 2022 for grief that remains intense and disabling well beyond the period most people need to adapt to a loss. - Psychiatrist vs Psychologist
Psychiatrists and psychologists both treat mental health conditions, but their training and the tools they use differ. - Psychosis
Psychosis is a state in which a person loses some contact with reality. - Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy, often called talk therapy, is structured treatment that works through conversation, skills practice and guided reflection with a trained clinician. - Remission vs Response
Response and remission are the two main ways clinicians and researchers measure whether a depression treatment is working, and the difference matters for your care. - REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy)
REMS stands for Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. - rTMS (Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
rTMS stands for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. - SNRI (Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor)
SNRIs, or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, are antidepressants that increase the availability of two chemical messengers, serotonin and norepinephrine, by blocking their reuptake into nerve cells. - Spravato
Spravato is the brand name for esketamine nasal spray, made by Janssen. - SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor)
SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants and a first-line treatment for depression, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD, PTSD and PMDD. - Stimulant
Stimulants are the most effective and most studied medications for ADHD in children, adolescents and adults, with roughly 70 to 80 percent of people showing a meaningful improvement in attention and impulse control. - Telepsychiatry
Telepsychiatry is psychiatric care delivered by secure video, and sometimes by phone, instead of in an exam room. - Theta Burst Stimulation (TBS)
Theta burst stimulation, often shortened to TBS or iTBS, is a newer pattern of TMS pulses modeled on the brain's own rhythms. - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, is a non-invasive treatment that uses brief magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in specific regions of the brain. - Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)
Treatment-resistant depression describes major depression that has not improved enough after adequate trials of at least two different antidepressants.